| Overview : The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in October 2012, launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) as a new global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner – building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and biodiversity, with a particular focus on the needs and transformational opportunities at the national level. For Thailand, the BIOFIN project implementation in Phase II (2018 – 2022) shall continue to support the Royal Thai Government and other key stakeholders from the private sector and civil society in implementing The Biodiversity Finance Plan (2020). The Plan identifies a mix of suitable biodiversity finance solutions to reduce the biodiversity finance gap in Thailand. With this, Thailand is now implementing key biodiversity finance solutions for which they will provide impacts designed to reach national biodiversity targets (i.e., NBSAP, 20-year National Strategy, etc.) through four main results: a) Generate revenues, i.e. any existing or innovative mechanism or instrument that can generate and/or leverage financial resources to allocate to biodiversity. Examples include the attraction of impact investment in conservation projects, etc.; b) Realign current expenditures, i.e. any measure that can reorient existing financial flows towards biodiversity.; c) Avoid future biodiversity expenditures, i.e. any measure that can prevent or reduce future investment needs by eliminating or amending existing counter-productive policies and expenditures, and d) Deliver financial resources more effectively and efficiently, i.e. any measure or instrument that can enhance cost-effectiveness and efficiency in budget execution, achieve synergies and/or favour a more equitable distribution of resources. The key findings of BIOFIN in Thailand revealed that the financial resources required for the achievement of biodiversity conservation priorities articulated in the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) are substantial. It has been calculated that current funding levels for biodiversity conservation in the country are insufficient and the country will need at least $942 million (THB 31.977 billion) between 2019 and 2021 to adequately restore ecosystems and biodiversity resources. BIOFIN Thailand, together with a diversity of actors and experts, has developed the prioritized set of finance solutions for biodiversity which are now undergoing implementation (2018 – 2022). Finance solutions that are the most promising and realistic were chosen and judged as being significant in terms of impact on biodiversity, impact on finance, and likelihood of success. The immediate objective of BIOFIN Phase II is to support Thailand with the implementation of the Biodiversity Finance Plan at both national and sub-national levels. The Plan looks forward to delivering a prioritised set of biodiversity finance solutions – seizing this opportunity to address thematic areas of intervention by recommending new partnerships and finance mechanisms for investing in biodiversity. The prioritised biodiversity finance solutions in the Plan are complementary and offer a combination of system and site level sustainable financing, policy changes, and other incentive mechanisms. This can be summarised as follows: - Sustainable Tourism Finance Solution: Increasing industry revenue sources for safeguarding biodiversity and environmental management
- Wildlife and Protected Areas Finance Solution: Introduction of conservation vehicle license plates to support wildlife conservation in Thailand
- Government Budget Finance Solution: Enhancing effectiveness and biodiversity impact of local budgets in Thailand
- Private Sector Finance Solution: Mobilizing the private sector and impact investment in support of biodiversity
UNDP will aim for achieving its full implementation of the above-mentioned Biodiversity Finance Solutions in Thailand, given that both the National Steering Committee of BIOFIN Thailand and the BIOFIN Global team have endorsed the prioritised finance solutions. Accordingly, BIOFIN Thailand is seeking National Expert on Strategic Development and Exploration of Biodiversity Finance for Thailand. **For Detail Job Description and Application Procedure please see the attached Annex I - Terms of Reference (TOR) ***Interested Applicants are requested to apply throug UNDP Job site | 
